Exciting news! This is our first installment of a new “Sweet Spot” series where we highlight the best aspects of different award charts.
I’ll discuss using Flying Blue miles for award tickets on Delta to Hawaii! And why it’s an especially good deal for folks who collect Chase, Citi, AMEX, or Starwood points.
If You’re Not on the West Coast, You Can Get to Hawaii for Fewer Miles With Flying Blue
About Flying Blue Miles
Flying Blue is the frequent flyer program for Air France and KLM. But you can also book award tickets on airlines in the SkyTeam Alliance, like Delta or Korean Air.
It’s easy to earn Flying Blue miles because you can transfer AMEX Membership Rewards points, Citi ThankYou points, or Starwood points, to Flying Blue. And recently, Chase Ultimate Rewards added Flying Blue as a transfer partner too!
All of these program points transfer to Flying Blue miles at a 1:1 ratio.
How Many Flying Blue Miles Will You Need?
Link: Flying Blue Calculator
Use the Flying Blue miles calculator tool to see how many miles you’ll need for your award flight. Because Flying Blue only publishes award charts for flights originating in Europe!
Just remember to pay attention to the taxes and fuel surcharges. Because fees for award flights operated by Delta (as opposed to Air France or KLM) are a lot less.
Using this Sweet Spot, we’ll only fly on Delta, so the fees will be minimal.
Use Fewer Miles to Hawaii With Flying Blue!
One sweet spot using Flying Blue miles is for tickets from the mainland US to Hawaii on Delta. Especially for folks who do NOT live on the West Coast. But I’ll give y’all on the West Coast an alternative!
For anyone who doesn’t live on the West Coast, using Flying Blue miles for Delta flights is a better deal.
For example, a round-trip flight from Atlanta to Honolulu on Delta will only cost 30,000 Flying Blue miles and ~$6 in fees.
It Costs 30,000 Flying Blue Miles to Fly From the East Coast to Hawaii!
Using American Airlines miles, you’ll pay at least 40,000 miles for a round-trip coach flight to Hawaii from the US.
A Round-Trip Flight in Coach From Atlanta to Hawaii Costs 40,000 American Airlines Miles
And it will cost 45,000 United Airlines miles round-trip from the US to Hawaii in coach.
Round-Trip Flights From the US to Hawaii Cost 45,000 United Airlines Miles
Delta also charges 45,000 Delta miles for round-trip coach flights from the US to Hawaii. But I’d rather use Flying Blue miles to hop on the same Delta flight for 30,000 miles instead!
A Round-Trip Flight From Salt Lake City to Honolulu Costs 45,000 Delta Miles
How to Book Flying Blue Award Tickets
Link: Air France
Link: KLM
From the Air France home page, click the “Use Your Miles” tab. Then click “Sign In.”
Click the “Use Your Miles” Tab on Air France’s Homepage to Sign-In to Your Flying Blue Account
Enter your Flying Blue login information and click “Log In.”
Enter Your Flying Blue Account Username & Password
After that, enter your flight search details. Like departure and arrival cities, dates, number of passengers, and cabin preference.
Enter Your Flight Details
Be sure to check the box “You are looking for a flight around these dates.” That way you’ll be able to see a full calendar. And choose dates that cost the fewest miles.
Select Your Departure Date
Select your departure and return dates from the calendar.
Select Your Return Date
Then you’ll be able to see the total price of the award ticket, including fees.
After Choosing Your Flight Dates, You’ll See a Summary of Your Trip
From there, you’ll be able to select exactly which flights you’d like and fill in passenger details to book your tickets!
Note: You can also book Flying Blue award tickets by calling their customer service at 800-375-8723. But they charge a phone booking fee of ~$22 per passenger.
Or book Flying Blue tickets on the KLM website. But I find the Air France website to be the easiest.
Folks on the West Coast Can Get to Hawaii for Even Fewer Miles
If you’re on the West Coast, you can use British Airways Avios points for cheap flights to Hawaii on American Airlines or Alaska Airlines. Fly from cities like Los Angeles, Portland, San Diego, and Anchorage.
These tickets cost 25,000 British Airways Avios points and ~$6 in fees for a round-trip flight in coach.
Use Fewer Miles for Flights With British Airways Avios Points From Los Angeles to Honolulu on American Airlines
Need More Flying Blue Miles?
Because you can transfer points from all 4 flexible points programs to Flying Blue, there are lots of credit cards you can use to earn more Flying Blue miles.
For example, you can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points earned from the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Ink Plus, or Ink Bold (no longer offered) cards to Flying Blue miles.
Or transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points from the Chase Freedom, Chase Freedom Unlimited, or Chase Ink Cash, if you also have 1 of the Chase cards mentioned above.
With the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you’ll earn 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points after meeting minimum spending. And with the Ink Plus card, you’ll earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
There Are Lots of Ways to Earn Flying Blue Miles, Giving You More Ways to Fly Wherever You Want to Go!
If you prefer earning AMEX Membership Rewards points, check out the AMEX Premier Rewards Gold card or AMEX Business Gold Rewards card. With both cards, you can earn 25,000 AMEX Membership Rewards points after meeting the minimum spending requirements.
And if you’re looking for Citi ThankYou points, consider the Citi ThankYou Premier or Citi Prestige cards.
With the Citi ThankYou Premier card, you’ll earn 40,000 Citi ThankYou points for signing-up and meeting spending requirements. And with the Citi Prestige card, you’ll earn 50,000 Citi ThankYou points after signing-up and completing the minimum spend.
Also, don’t forget you can transfer Starwood points to Flying Blue and get 5,000 bonus Flying Blue miles when you transfer 20,000 Starwood points!
Currently, both the AMEX Starwood personal and small business cards are offering 25,000 Starwood points after meeting minimum spending requirements.
With most of these cards, you’d earn enough miles or points from the sign-up bonus to fly round-trip to Hawaii on Delta with Flying Blue miles!
For more credit card options, check out our “Hot Deals” page.
Bottom Line
Using Flying Blue miles for award tickets to Hawaii on Delta is a great deal for lots of folks. Especially if you don’t live on the West Coast!
Because Flying Blue award tickets from the mainland US to Hawaii cost 30,000 Flying Blue miles. Whereas other popular programs, like Delta and United Airlines, charge 45,000 miles!
And because you can transfer points from all 4 flexible points programs to Flying Blue at a 1:1 ratio, there are lots of ways to earn Flying Blue miles.
This include credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Ink Plus, AMEX Starwood personal and small business cards, and Citi ThankYou Premier card.
A big thanks to Million Mile Secrets reader MrBrigham for the great post suggestion!
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